Getting Closer to the Hype of Cultured Meat! A Review of Singapore's "GOOD MEAT"

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At the Forefront of Food Technology in Singapore

Hello, this is Shugo from Food Diversity, Inc. We are engaging in support lectures, promotions, and product development in the vegan and plant-based food industry.

Recently, we had the opportunity to try “Good Meat,” a product offered by Huber’s Bistro in Singapore (as of April 2023), which is the only country in the world that permits the sale of cultured meat. Good Meat is a product of Eat Just, a company known for producing and selling plant-based products such as Just Egg. Singapore’s government granted permission to sell cultured meat in December 2020.

Cultured meat refers to meat produced by cultivating animal cells. It looks, tastes, and has the same nutritional value as regular meat but can be produced without slaughtering animals. It is considered a sustainable way to produce meat in the future.

In this article, I would like to share the details of our experience trying Good Meat.

Huber’s Bistro

Menu, Price, and Taste

Good Meat’s Menu

We ordered Good Meat Pasta and while we were waiting for our order, a staff member from Eat Just, who was stationed in the restaurant, came to our table and asked if we could answer a survey.

The survey asked questions such as “How did you hear about Good Meat?”, “Why did you want to try it?”, and “Were there any concerns you had before trying it?”.

Good Meat Pasta

After waiting for about 15 minutes, our food was finally served. The dish had 7-8 pieces of fried Good Meat in it. We tried it right away, and as expected, the taste and texture were just like chicken.

Sometimes people use the expression “You wouldn’t know it’s plant-based unless you were told”, but in this case, it was exactly like chicken, and there was no other way to describe it.

Good Meat pieces

As the cultured meat industry gains attention, debates are intensifying in various countries on whether cultured meat is vegan, halal, kosher, and so on. There are various opinions on this matter and there is currently no clear consensus.

When asked if “Good Meat” is vegan, the staff at the restaurant responded, “There are a lot of opinions,” and added, “Personal decision.”

However, this initiative is undoubtedly gaining attention as a response to climate change, as well as a solution for countries such as Singapore and Israel with low food self-sufficiency rates.

On the other hand, in Italy, there have been moves to ban cultured meat for the protection of food culture, so it will be interesting to see how this situation develops in the future.

Author

Akihiro Shugo
Food Diversity, Inc CEO
Part-time lecturer at Ryutsu Keizai University

Born in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1983 and graduated from Chiba University. After traveling around the world in 2006, he joined Rakuten Co., Ltd. in 2007 and was involved in the launch of various new businesses, mainly in the food sector. In 2014, he launched “HALAL MEDIA JAPAN” to disseminate information on restaurants that cater to diverse food cultures, and founded Food Diversity Co., Ltd. He has held “HALAL EXPO JAPAN”, one of the largest halal trade shows in Japan for four consecutive years, which attracts more than 20,000 domestic and foreign businesses and Muslims.

From 2017, he has expanded the business domain not only to halal, but also to vegetarian, vegan, kosher, gluten-free, allergy, etc., and is cooperating with local governments and administrations nationwide, from giving lectures and conducting the promotion and information sharing to attract customers/visitors.

In 2020, at the Tourism Strategy Implementation Promotion Conference held at the Prime Minister’s official residence, he directly proposed policies in the food sector to Prime Minister Suga.

He wrote a book “Innovation of the Opening of the Country“.

Inquiry
info@food-diversity.co.jp